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historianvik's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Interesting plot but predictable at many points. I came in with low expectations which were met. Spicy scenes were best. I think I heard of this book thru social media bc someone liked it to zutara but that's not the case. Just happens to be water and fire magic.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Pregnancy
gabs_parr's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual content, and Slavery
Moderate: Death, Confinement, Violence, Cursing, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Torture, and War
joonbug314's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent and Slavery
Minor: Pregnancy
akira_vcat's review against another edition
2.75
The writing was okay, the talent ascher has for writing fantasy can be faintly seen. But it truly feels like there's 100ish pages that are essential missing from the book. Its one MAJOR flaw that ruins the whole book with such a simple solution but I feel like the flaw was made cause of red tower.
The flaw:
Like she is just barely getting the guy out of the cage. She's known him about a week and he's been in the cage the whole time. She kissed him to distract him from killing the guy who purchased him for the circus (there's a lot more behind that). Bam instant attraction. In their great escape they need to stay in a hotel room and basically go at it for 5 days straight. Bam they are in love. Again, known each other for less than two weeks. She finds out his huge flaw and runs from him and the story gets good again.
The solution:
Instead of making it spicy spicy spicy in a hotel room, how about having 100-200 pages of them traveling in their escape. Going town to town and BUILDING a bond with each other maybe spanning a month at minimum. AND THEN have the reveal of his past (that he couldn't remember until he gets revealed). And the betrayal she
Feels would definitely hit 100000x harder. And then when the second reveal that gets her trying to find him and save him again would have 10000000000000x more meaning because they built up that bond so much and it's truly love and all that.
In addition, its also feels like sudden pregnancy.
The timeline: Harrow and raith meet, a few days later they escape. 5 days later he gets taken. A couple days later he tries to kill her (cause of events) and he is taken to get a physical form again and out of his vows. They'd known each other for about a WEEK.
Then six months of ZERO contact. They meet, they have sex. Then he is given all his memories back because he lost them (cause of events). And bam they find out she is pregnant from that time of having sex.
AGAIN this issue wouldn't be as much of an issue if we had a more exploration of their characters and relationship and then actually bonding. The book is pretty good but then remembering they literally only have known each other for a week before declaring they are each others love of their lives really ruins it.
The flaw:
The solution:
Instead of making it spicy spicy spicy in a hotel room, how about having 100-200 pages of them traveling in their escape. Going town to town and BUILDING a bond with each other maybe spanning a month at minimum. AND THEN have the reveal of his past (that he couldn't remember until he gets revealed). And the betrayal she
Feels would definitely hit 100000x harder. And then when the second reveal that gets her trying to find him and save him again would have 10000000000000x more meaning because they built up that bond so much and it's truly love and all that.
In addition, its also feels like sudden pregnancy.
The timeline: Harrow and raith meet, a few days later they escape. 5 days later he gets taken. A couple days later he tries to kill her (cause of events) and he is taken to get a physical form again and out of his vows. They'd known each other for about a WEEK.
Then six months of ZERO contact. They meet, they have sex. Then he is given all his memories back because he lost them (cause of events). And bam they find out she is pregnant from that time of having sex.
AGAIN this issue wouldn't be as much of an issue if we had a more exploration of their characters and relationship and then actually bonding. The book is pretty good but then remembering they literally only have known each other for a week before declaring they are each others love of their lives really ruins it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy
memreads's review
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Too Much Instalove and Sex, Not Enough Circus and Character Development
Going into this world, I was hoping for an immersive fantasy with characters that radiate circus energy like Ty Lee from Avatar, high stakes hidden identity, unravelling mysterious pasts, and compelling banter.
This did not deliver.
I love a good map as much as the next fantasy reader, but in my mind they should be like a cherry on top, a nice little touch for the well constructed world. Not a crutch to be used in lieu of the actual world building.
From the initial marketing I saw for the story, it promised a magical circus, and "vibes like Avatar the Last Air Bender". This book is about as much like Avatar as sour cream is like ice cream. And as far as the circus was concerned, it felt like more of a convenient start for the story rather than a part of the story.
I've seen other reviews saying going into this expecting a fantasy novel is setting yourself up for a bad time. This is a romance novel, it has okay-ish romance scenes but they seem also awkward and forced. I'd think a 60 year old and an amnesiac wouldn't dive into physical relations so quickly, but that's my logic.
The fantasy elements just don't grip like I'd want them to.
Overall, the story felt forced despite the really cool things it promised going into it, the plot was hard to find, and it felt like it was trying so hard to be a stand alone while also maintaining series potential.
Going into this world, I was hoping for an immersive fantasy with characters that radiate circus energy like Ty Lee from Avatar, high stakes hidden identity, unravelling mysterious pasts, and compelling banter.
This did not deliver.
I love a good map as much as the next fantasy reader, but in my mind they should be like a cherry on top, a nice little touch for the well constructed world. Not a crutch to be used in lieu of the actual world building.
From the initial marketing I saw for the story, it promised a magical circus, and "vibes like Avatar the Last Air Bender". This book is about as much like Avatar as sour cream is like ice cream. And as far as the circus was concerned, it felt like more of a convenient start for the story rather than a part of the story.
I've seen other reviews saying going into this expecting a fantasy novel is setting yourself up for a bad time. This is a romance novel, it has okay-ish romance scenes but they seem also awkward and forced. I'd think a 60 year old and an amnesiac wouldn't dive into physical relations so quickly, but that's my logic.
The fantasy elements just don't grip like I'd want them to.
Overall, the story felt forced despite the really cool things it promised going into it, the plot was hard to find, and it felt like it was trying so hard to be a stand alone while also maintaining series potential.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Slavery, Torture, Racism, Violence, War, Death of parent, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Genocide
em_thereader07's review against another edition
1.0
This book could have been really great, but it was just doing to much. There didn't really seem to be a plot, just a theme.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Torture, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Dementia, Sexual content, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder
jasper_is_atypical's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Starts great, the middle is kind of awful other than the side character POV bits, and even then... The last third starts with some interesting stuff and then sort of goes downhill, though not to the extent of the middle section's snooze fest. I really don't know what to say. I wanted to like it, but I would have preferred a book about the main side character over the protagonists of this book. A bit messy, though the editing was good and I'm glad they were able to get a good sensitivity reader. I will definitely be reading the author's next book (about the side character, who would have guessed), but I will be going into it with tempered expectations. Overall, not the worst I've read, but it left me wanting. (Also side note this definitely felt like it started out some iterations ago as Acotar Azriel x Elain fanfic with some added diversity~ as spice. A seer and a shadow guy with wings who doesn't talk much... come on)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Death, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Slavery, Sexual content, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Trafficking, and Torture
Moderate: War, Vomit, Murder, Hate crime, and Stalking
Minor: Gaslighting, Gore, Body horror, Deadnaming, Infertility, and Pregnancy
banannafox's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Death of parent, Torture, Physical abuse, and Trafficking
Minor: Pregnancy, Body horror, Death, Genocide, and Slavery
wanderingwitchreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Special thanks to Red Tower Publishing and Netgalley fro my e-arc of Sanctuary of the Shadow
!!!This Review is Full of Spoilers Please proceed with Caution!!!
*Trigger warnings for this title include but are not limited to Pregnancy,human trafficking, violence, memory loss, and imprisonment.*
Sanctuary of the Shadow by Aurora Ascher is a new adult romantasy following Harrow a Water elemental Seer and last of her kind as her entire life is changed by the arrival of a New attraction to the traveling circus she calls home.
What I loved
-The magical amnesia trope was utilized in a creative manner
-The war between the elemental queens was intriguing to me
-Multi POV was done in a way that felt seamless
-Consent is sought and enthusiastically given in the scenes involving physical intimacy.
-Cute Oracle deck used by the main female character should definitely be a real product.
-Dialogue and Chemistry between the two main characters is amazing
-The Side Characters are well fleshed out with understandable motivations
What Didn't work as well for me
-While the intimate scenes were extremely well written the first one felt like it was a distraction from the main plot as I was so eager to dive back into if the circus leader was going to catch them or learn more about the Oroborus group.
-It felt like Harrow was too easily swayed to ignore the water's instruction and thus deny her own instincts in favor of following the water queen's instruction. ( I do realize this came from a combination of shock and grief but by goodness even by the queen's own word's Raith and beings like him don't have full free will in their actions initially .)
Who I Recommend this title for
Sanctuary of the Shadow will be a great read for fans of Authors such as Rebecca F Kenney.
!!!This Review is Full of Spoilers Please proceed with Caution!!!
*Trigger warnings for this title include but are not limited to Pregnancy,human trafficking, violence, memory loss, and imprisonment.*
Sanctuary of the Shadow by Aurora Ascher is a new adult romantasy following Harrow a Water elemental Seer and last of her kind as her entire life is changed by the arrival of a New attraction to the traveling circus she calls home.
What I loved
-The magical amnesia trope was utilized in a creative manner
-The war between the elemental queens was intriguing to me
-Multi POV was done in a way that felt seamless
-Consent is sought and enthusiastically given in the scenes involving physical intimacy.
-Cute Oracle deck used by the main female character should definitely be a real product.
-Dialogue and Chemistry between the two main characters is amazing
-The Side Characters are well fleshed out with understandable motivations
What Didn't work as well for me
-While the intimate scenes were extremely well written the first one felt like it was a distraction from the main plot as I was so eager to dive back into if the circus leader was going to catch them or learn more about the Oroborus group.
-It felt like Harrow was too easily swayed to ignore the water's instruction and thus deny her own instincts in favor of following the water queen's instruction. ( I do realize this came from a combination of shock and grief but by goodness even by the queen's own word's Raith and beings like him don't have full free will in their actions initially .)
Who I Recommend this title for
Sanctuary of the Shadow will be a great read for fans of Authors such as Rebecca F Kenney.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking and Sexual content
Moderate: Pregnancy, Violence, and Genocide
Minor: Classism